1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer image-receiving polymeric sheet capable of recording thereon thermally transferred dye or ink images in a clear and sharp form.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In thermal transfer recording systems an ink ribbon is heated through a thermal head or by laser or the like in accordance with image information. The heating causes thermal melting, thermal diffusion or sublimation, by which a dye is transferred from the ink ribbon onto a printing sheet to form an image on the printing sheet.
The printing sheet generally is made up of a support film having a dye receiving layer coated thereon. The dye receiving layer is a layer that receives a dye or ink transferred thereto from the ink ribbon by heating and preserves an image formed from the dye. Typical dye receiving layers for polymeric substrates comprise at least one dye receptive resin dissolved in an organic solvent. Examples of such solvent borne resins include polyester, polycarbonate, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride copolymers such as vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, and thermoplastic resins such as polyurethane resin, polystyrene, acrylic-styrene (AS) resin, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin, and the like.
It may be desirable to reduce or eliminate the use of volatile organic solvents in the process for manufacturing polymeric image receiving sheets. In particular, it may be desirable to employ an aqueous composition for producing an image receiving layer on a polyester substrate without compromising image clarity and durability.